The Bears and The Beads

A little about me; Hi Im Christine Hutchison! I live in Coos Bay, Oregon. My husband, daughter and myself just relocated here from Hines, Oregon. Its a small town in eastern Oregon, where we made some wonderful friends and enjoyed raising our three children. 

Both of our boys graduated high school at Burns High School and now are attending college at Oregon State University. Our oldest is in his third year of college and our youngest son is in his second year. We are so proud!

Our daughter is in high school and has a couple of years to go until she sets out to further her education. She's our little spit fire and continues to amaze us and makes us very proud,  just like her brothers!

My husband works for the state of Oregon. We are very fortunate that he was able to transfer to a new location and he was able to venture into a new direction with his career. Now he's able to have weekends and evenings off. A true blessing. 

I worked for the school districts wherever we lived. When we lived in Hines I met this wonderful lady in the summer. I was working at the airport during summer break and she was camping there with her husband, while he worked with the forest fire crew, managing the fire planes. She was a miracle for me. See, she was a making jewelry and showed me some of her items. I fell in love with the art of making jewelry. She taught me the do's and don'ts and I found myself taking on a new venture myself. I had always found hobbies that ended up costing me a bundle. I was a scrapbooking and card making fein. Then after I started making jewelry, I decided one hobby was enough for me. (my hubby was so happy) I then found myself selling items, repairing jewelry, redesigning items for customers, and I have many happy customers. Little did I know it was part of my new life.

I had been having some tummy troubles, and other unexplainable health problems going on. At the time I thought it was all going to pass. I went back to work after the summer, the school district was having financial difficulties and started laying off employees. Fortunately it was later that I was laid off. When I did get laid off, it was a source of income that helped my family out. Then I was finding myself getting more ill. It took 2 years to find out that I had a rare genetic disease called Porphyria. It has literally made me debilitated. 1 year after I was laid off, I was offered my position with the school district, unfortunately my disease had caused so much damage that I was unable to go back. I loved working with people, I loved having a purpose in my day, and contributing to my families income. Unfortunately, my physician told me that I shouldn't go back to work. Stress, physical activity, sunlight, and many other factors cause serious complications. It was for the best for the school district as well. As I would be off work and they'd have to get substitutes to cover my position. 

Fortunately I am still able to bead. I won't be able to go out to shows any longer, but I can start my business online. With the help of my husband I can get my  jewelry to my beautiful customers, continue contributing to my family and continue to donate and participate with my favorite charitable causes. 

About the jewelry; I love to use high quality items. My customers love the jewelry and know that it has been made to last and to stay beautiful. I use crystals from Swarovski crystals. I hand pick my semi precious stones and love fusing my own glass jewelry. Bullseye glass is top quality and made in Portland, Oregon. I love to go and hand pick my glass. I use a kiln to process my fused glass. I do a long slow cool after fusing to insure that the item is durable, best quality and done to perfection. My pendants are adhered to a sterling silver bail, not plated. This makes it stay beautiful without flaking and looking old. 

My earrings are all on sterling silver wires (unless marked otherwise) keeping in mind the sensitivity to my customers ears. I don't like using plated items; as they tend to flake or turn odd colors. 

I use sterling silver wire and components on my hand strung beading items. Each item will be well described. If you have any questions on items, please feel free to contact me. I will also customize items for my customers and change lengths if you would like them at a certain length.